Max Lee Pinegar's Funeral

As the season's change the thoughts that consume my mind are these - change, constant change. As the snows of winter melt; the flowers of spring grow. A decision that is made changes ones life.  A dear loved one leaves this world; and a new, special, little one comes. As much as we love or hate today, tomorrow is always different. Nothing stays the same forever. 

"When we are no longer 

able to change a situation, 

we are challenged

 to change ourselves."

 -Viktor Frankl

Earlier this year my wonderful Grandpa passed away. It was an extremely hard time for our family. We each had to come to the realization that our family is different. A change has been made, a hard change.
It was decided by my Mom and her siblings that my Aunt Tinah and I would do the flowers for my Grandpa's funeral.

This is my Uncle Matt (my Mom's baby brother), his wife (my very talented Aunt Tinah), and my beautiful Grandmother (we call her Moni). They are standing at the graveside of my Grandpa.

My Aunt Tinah, my Mom, and myself spent an entire day preparing the flowers for my Grandpa's funeral. We couldn't help but enjoy putting the flowers together; but when we were reminded of the purpose of the arrangements, our grief would consume us again.

We decided to think about how much Grandpa loved flowers! Especially tulips! He served an LDS mission in the Netherlands and served there again as President over the LDS missionaries serving in the same mission. He loved the Netherlands, especially the tulips. So, as a tribute to him, we incorporated as many tulips as we could in the funeral arrangements.

During the day we made the arrangements, so many family members came to see the progress we were making. I think they wanted to feel close to Grandpa; and they knew Grandpa loved nature and flowers.  Having the family together helped us to feel Grandpa was still with us in spirit.

This was the first funeral Tinah or I have ever done. We decided to make two podium arrangements, two floor arrangements, and one half size coffin arrangement. I mainly worked on the podium arrangements and Tinah did the other three. We did help each other with all of the arrangements.

For our first time, we received a lot of compliments on how beautiful the arrangements looked.

Each of the arrangements had the same flowers, with a few exceptions.

Lets start with the podium arrangements.

 There are roses, hydrangeas (were used only in the podium arrangements), mums, stock, delphinium, status, carnations, golden rod, wax flower, and leather leaf. I hope you notice the size of this arrangement. This arrangement, needed to be big. Not bigger than the floor or coffin arrangements, but bigger than your typical arrangement. Flowers used at a funeral are there to help those who are grieving. They need to be big enough for everyone in the room to notice. This is the smallest bouquet arrangement for a funeral.

Here are the two floor arrangements done by Tinah! They are beautiful. The flowers that were added to these arrangements are spider mums, calla lilies, iris, tulips, and lemon leaf. These arrangements are on a stand that are on the floor next to the coffin. They are rather large, so it can hold a lot of flowers.

 Notice how the plants with a lot of flowers are used to define the length of the arrangement. Floor arrangements need to have length, not particularly width. It helps to make this arrangement noticeable, especially since it is on the floor. They also help center the coffin, bringing symmetry. 

Here is a close up of one of the floor arrangements. I love how Tinah put the main flowers in clusters. This helps the arrangement look taller, plus it is just beautiful.

Here is the coffin arrangement. Like the floor arrangements, the plants with many flowers are used to define the size of the arrangement. This is a half coffin arrangement. The reason why it is called a half coffin is because when half of the coffin is open the full arrangement will fit on top of half of the coffin. Then when the coffin is closed it will sit in the center on top of the coffin.

Tinah did a fantastic job on this arrangement! She made it with love and respect for Grandpa, and it definitely shows. I believe this is perfect for Grandpa. He would have loved it.

I don't want to get too depressing here, but I wanted to show the extra flowers we kept so each family member could place a flower on Grandpa's coffin. 

A funeral is a very sobering experience, especially when it is for a loved one. The flowers used at a funeral help to remind everyone to be thankful for life. They are there to celebrate the life of the one who has died.

 Our lives are like flowers. We grow where we are planted, we become strong, we bloom, we withstand the elements around us, and then we die. Like each flower, we have a lasting influence on the world around us. Let us each try to make our own corner of the world, our gardens, our homes a little brighter, better, and blessed with life. 

We all loved Grandpa so much! He blessed our lives and the lives of everyone who knew him. He was so sincere when he wanted to get to know you. He found a friend in everyone. He made everyone feel important. We all had great worth in Grandpa's eyes. He never failed to tell each of us how much he loved us and how proud he was of us. I hope he knew how much we all loved him. Whenever I say my Grandpa, I kissed him, I thanked him, and I told him how much I loved him; because I wanted him to know he was extremely important to me. He still is.

I love you Grandpa!!!